LGBTQIA Film Fest

I have been quiet for a little while, because I have been trying to step back, listen, and educate myself. I think one of the most dangerous things to a society is a lack of education on any topic. That lack of education, coupled with an incessant need to fill a space with noise, takes away from the people who actually have something to say. It spreads fear and ignorance and injustice, which is partially how we ended up in the current situation. In the midst of the protests, May became June, which is Pride month.

I feel that the best thing I could do to honor Marsha P. Johnson, the fierce trans woman of color who started the Stonewall uprising, would be to honor her legacy by educating people about the LGBT+ community in my own small way. Differences should be embraced, not feared, and information is one step towards that. We as a society have too long scorned others who don't fit into the box of affluent, straight, white, or Christian. It is time to acknowledge that God made everyone, and if God is love, then so are we. Equality for minorities doesn't mean less for anyone else-- by definition, equal is being the same in number or amount.

That being said, there is a sad lack of misrepresentation of LGBT+ people in film, outside of the token gay friend stereotype-- you know the one, always throwing fab parties and throwing shade. There is a lot more to it than that, just as all people have layers. Each June, Shelley & I have a little LGBTQIA Film Fest in our living rooms-- just the two of us, browsing the "Pride" section that only crops up for a month out of the year alongside the companies who promote rainbow apparel, as if the rest of the time they would be more comfortable leaving us in the closet. If you are interested in watching any of these movies, most are available on Netflix, Hulu, or cable, and provide a great dichotomy of information on the community alongside a damn good story. We've watched more than what is listed, but these are my favorites.

Movies: 

If These Walls Could Talk 2: 
This movie was one of the first Shelley and I watched together. It follows the stories of three lesbian couples who lived in the same house in different periods of time. In 1961, it is an elderly couple coping with loss (this one made me cry and also opened my eyes to the injustice faced in the LGBT+ community). In 1972, it is a group of college students dealing with feminism. In 2000, it is a couple (portrayed adorably by Ellen DeGeneres and Sharon Stone) trying to have a baby using a sperm donor. This remains one of my favorites.

Milk: 
A biopic starring Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, the gay rights activist who became the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in the United States in the 1970s.

Blue is the Warmest Color: 
This is a French film about a girl named Adele who falls in love with an older girl she meets at a lesbian bar. It is a love story, but it is also about self-discovery, about losing yourself and then finding yourself again.

Boys Don't Cry:
This is another biopic, this time starring Hilary Swank as female-to-male transgender Brandon Teena. When people discover Brandon is trans, he receives death threats and abuse, and starts over in a small Midwest town, where he falls in love. When his past is revealed here, the rest of the movie is a wrenching eye-opener to the struggles of the trans community.

Lez Bomb: 
This movie is not exactly the caliber of the first four, but it is worth a watch anyway. It's light and funny, but also follows our main character, a vegetarian and closeted lesbian, as she comes home for family Thanksgiving with her "friend" in tow, and tries to find the right moment to tell her entire family she is a lesbian. The awkwardness of this situation is captured pretty well, alongside some definitely-Hollywood-level hijinks and hilarity. The first time Shelley met my massive extended family was at Thanksgiving, so this was relatable to an extent.

Io e Lei (Me, Myself, & Her):
This is an Italian film, and even though it follows the sort of frustrating trope of lesbians in struggling relationships (it's not as common as movies make it seem, seriously), it was enjoyable to watch. Yes, there are subtitles, but it doesn't detract from the movie. It's about an architect and a former movie star who have been together for five years, but one of them tries to keep their relationship a secret.

Liz in September: 
This Venezuelan film is amazing, but definitely a tear-jerker. Liz is terminally ill, and she lives in a beach house with a group of lesbians. When she meets a woman who lost her son to cancer, the two form a strong bond.

Pariah: 
This 2011 film follows Alike, an African American teen struggling with her identity as a lesbian and trying to figure out how to confide in her family about who she is.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post:
This is based on a novel by Emily Danforth. The film, which stars Chloe Grace Moretz as Cameron, is fairly true to the book. Cameron lives in a small town, and after she is caught kissing another girl in a car at prom, she is sent to a Christian conversion camp. Cameron is laid back and follows the rules, but it's clear that the core of someone cannot be changed, just masked.

Love, Simon:
This is based on a novel as well, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. It is geared towards a young adult audience, but follows Simon through his coming out process, and how sometimes sharing it with a complete stranger is easier than sharing it with people you've known your entire life.

The Secret Love:
This Netflix documentary is an incredibly moving story of Terry Donahue and Pat Henschel (baseball players from the team that inspired the movie A League of Their Own). The couple have been together for 70 years, and it follows their story from before they met through the bigotry and hatred they faced, and the little family they created of friends and fellow LGBT+ people. Terry's biological family in Canada spends a good deal of the documentary trying to coerce the couple to move back so they can be taken care of through their failing health. It took the couple until 2009 before they came out to their families. This story shows the strength and beauty of a decades-long relationship.

Television:

RuPaul's Drag Race: 
This reality competition show is the only show of its kind I have ever gone out of my way to watch. I have never met RuPaul, but I imagine that his constant messages in the 1980s of "Let me hear you say LOVE!" and fighting for acceptance and a place in this world really paved the way for queens today. Season 12 just wrapped, and all 12 seasons give a lot of insight into how much drag has permeated everyday culture, from the language to the makeup to the fashion (I find the idea of homophobic people unknowingly using terms or makeup tips coined by queens highly amusing). RuPaul will make you smile stupidly at the TV, and that's something we all need.

Queer Eye: 
On the topic of shows that make you smile stupidly at your TV, the Fab Five have 100% stolen my heart. This is slightly different than Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which enlisted five gay men to help out straight men. Queer Eye's Tan, Jonathan, Karamo, Antoni, and Bobby work together to improve the lives of people from all walks of life. I have laughed and cried when watching this show. They are an incredibly diverse group of people, and it's beautiful to see the magic and love they spread and the way they make others see LGBT+ people in a different light. This further proves my idea that a lack of connection to or knowledge of a group inspires fear, but knowledge and connection breeds love and acceptance.

The L Word:
This show has had a recent revival after ending its sixth season in 2009. This is nothing like Shelley's or my experience, but it's still entertaining to watch these boss babe powerhouse women conquer LA like lesbian Barbies. It's a Showtime series, so it's a little soapy, but it's definitely worth a watch.

POSE:
Shelley and I were a little late to the POSE universe, but once we started watching it we were enthralled. This show is set in the 1980s in New York, and if it opening in a museum with The Mary Jane Girls playing to draw me in, the insight into ball culture, African-American and Latinx LGBT+ and gender-nonconforming houses, and Billy Porter's magnificent announcing skills would.

I hope this list piqued your interest enough to explore something outside of your usual genre. If there's something I didn't mention and you think it should be on here, drop a comment and let me know. Happy Pride!